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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663715">maybe we can get this right.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hydro1913/pseuds/Hydro1913'>Hydro1913</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BIG SPOIL, Can I save everyone?, Canon Compliant, LEAVE IF NO WANT, Multi, Spoilers, Thank you Subaru Natsuki, like a return by death?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:00:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hydro1913/pseuds/Hydro1913</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He sits on the grimy toilet seat lid, it’s hard and cold and Noctis tries his best to just ground himself on it, puts his head between his hands and bends forward, trying his best to rest his forehead on his knees even though that’s damn impossible but he just wants to feel smaller.</p><p>Gods, fuck. What the fuck.</p><p>He feels like his stomach’s sucking him out from the inside. </p><p>He feels like the bones in his hands are going to shake right out of him.</p><p>He feels like every breath he sucks in just sucks in something sharp, like a blade-</p><p>His head throbs like hell.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia, Gladiolus Amicitia/Noctis Lucis Caelum, Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum, Gladiolus Amicitia/Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum, Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum/Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>SPOILERS.</p><p>EVERY SPOILER.</p><p>DO NOT READ IF HATE.</p><p>IMMA SPICE UP MY LIFE WITH THIS</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Noctis knows he’s crying.</p><p> </p><p>He can’t stop it - it’s kind of gross knowing his face is probably puffy and red all over, and he keeps brushing his hands out of his eyes that were still leaking tears. </p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus stepped out just a few moments ago,  running to catch up to Ignis who was running a few errands, or so he says.</p><p> </p><p>Prompto had stepped out after that, crowing something about a sunrise that he will snap some cute shots of, and he could be back at any moment.</p><p> </p><p>Which is why Noctis clenched his teeth, swallowed, forced a smile and then locked himself in the bathroom.</p><p> </p><p>He sits on the grimy toilet seat lid, it’s hard and cold and Noctis tries his best to just ground himself on it, puts his head between his hands and bends forward, trying his best to rest his forehead on his knees even though that’s damn impossible but he just wants to feel smaller.</p><p> </p><p>Gods, fuck. What the fuck.</p><p> </p><p>He feels like his stomach’s sucking him out from the inside. </p><p> </p><p>He feels like the bones in his hands are going to shake right out of him.</p><p> </p><p>He feels like every breath he sucks in just sucks in something sharp, like a blade-</p><p> </p><p>His head throbs like hell.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Dad. Trust in me.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The sounds of fire, the sounds of wind.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Burning light at the end of his vision.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Pain, so much pain, it comes to him a moment too late and he remembers slipping, slipping down, fingers falling from the edge of consciousness, choking on his own blood- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ardyn beneath him, just about a breath away from oblivion, black dust at the edges of his lips, he wasn’t smiling, Noctis had a hole in his stomach and the Kings were already forcing their way in, he was already dying, he wouldn’t tell his friends to walk tall- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck,” he whispers, grabbing at his hair, pulling at the roots, trying to squeeze out every bone in his body.</p><p> </p><p>What was he seeing?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ignis crying, Noctis could see the tears leaking out from under his visor, his hand squeezing Noctis’s so tightly, so forcefully, like he was trying his best to just keep him there.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ignis holding him tight, he smelled strangely like flowers and the Cup Noodles they ate, and Noctis can remember the tears soaking against his neck, he remembers crying just as hard.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ignis kissing him, his hold on him sharp, tight, pushing closer and closer and closer like he was trying to commit every part of Noctis to memory and Noctis remembers tears dropping onto his cheeks and catching in his eyelashes, because that’s how close they were and Ignis was always crying-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Gladiolus crying, his eyes looking away from Noctis, Noctis could see the rise and fall of his chest, the way he looks up at the night sky and Noctis could see the tears drop down his cheek and pool at his neck.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Gladiolus being hunched over and Noctis remembers going to him, remembers his hands reaching for his Shield’s face and tilting it up except Gladiolus wouldn’t look at him, it was too hard for him to, but Noctis wraps himself around the taller man anyway, presses in hard, even though its awkward since Gladiolus was so far back in his seat.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Gladiolus kissing him, except it wasn’t him who kissed first, it was Noctis, who had dragged him up and kissed him without abandon and their teeth clacking together and dirt on their tongues but they don’t stop and Noctis’s eyes feels heavy at the tears that seem to just pour out of his body in waves, they never stop-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Prompto crying, trying his damnedest to not look as if he was shaking, his hands flicking through pictures that were already ten years old, on a camera that looked so well kept and the flash still works.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Prompto hugging him from behind in the darkness of the tent, when Gladiolus and Ignis are still outside, packing everything up for when they set out tomorrow, even though there wouldn’t be a tomorrow, there hasn’t been a tomorrow for a long time - the blond’s shaking was so much more noticeable against Noctis’ back, the wetness on Noctis’s shoulder so much more apparent.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Prompto kissing him, except this moment didn’t make sense because Noctis had just woken up from the crystal and got on the boat and got to the mainland and Noctis remembers meeting them together, not just Prompto, stumbling out of Talcott’s truck, new crinkles around his eyes and hair growing from his chin grabbing his face and pulling him in.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Noctis throws his head back, he slumps against the back of the toilet seat, he’s staring at the fluorescent light up ahead, it’s flickering a little, his blood’s racing in his ears and his tears have soaked through his shirt from where he pulled it up many times to dry them away.</p><p> </p><p>What the fuck?</p><p> </p><p>What the fuck?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> What the fuck? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>He’s seen all of this before - but he hasn’t - but he has. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Barcode-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Scars-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Long hair-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>But - but those haven’t happened - have they happened, is Noctis going crazy because he definitely doesn’t remember Gladiolus’s hair being that long or Prompto having a barcode or Ignis being blind because none of them have any of that and they left Insomnia like, literally a few days ago so what the hell -</p><p> </p><p>There’s a sound of the door to the caravan opening, humming spews in, Prompto is back and Noctis is still in the bathroom feeling like he got hit by a truck.</p><p> </p><p>“Ooh, that’s a nice shot! Def keeping that one -  Noct?”</p><p> </p><p>Noctis puts his hand over his eyes, tries to steel away the flashing behind his eyelids, makes his voice as steady as he can.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I’m in here.”</p><p> </p><p>A beat goes by, the prince nearly curses the fact that Prompto has known him since their high school years, could probably pick out his distress in a heartbeat, willing him not to notice or even comment.</p><p> </p><p>“Something in the stew?” He hears the blond laugh. “You been in there awhile.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.” He fakes a grunt. “I’m stuffed.”</p><p> </p><p>Prompto laughs again and there’s several versions of that same laugh painting themselves against Noctis’s eyelids.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “What’s that, ‘I do’?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Ahaha, hahaha, your hair! Haha!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Luna doesn’t know what she’s missing!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Luna-</p><p> </p><p>Noctis thinks of the princess, her notebooks, Pryna, Umbra-</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Know that I am there-“ </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>His arms moving through water but it felt so thick, so restraining, she’s floating away from him, her eyes are closing, something’s wrong-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The Hydraean, purple dust pouring from its mouth, swallowing Lunafreya whole-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>No, that’s not what - does Leviathan look like that-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>A man in a coat, it reaches to his feet, he has a hand around Lunafreya’s throat and he’s squeezing - </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dad’s ring-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Newspaper-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Oh, fuck- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Noctis bites down, and he tastes blood.</p><p> </p><p>He swallows it back, only then still realizing that Prompto was still talking to him, maybe about chocobos or their trip ahead -</p><p> </p><p>“Noct?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I’m coming out,” he says, maybe faster than needed, and he’s wiping at his face one more time and getting off his seat, staring at himself in the mirror and wondering why he seemed so much older-</p><p> </p><p>But he clenches his teeth and brushes the hair from his eyes, was it long, was it supposed to be longer-</p><p> </p><p>But he doesn’t dwell on it, he’s already tugging open the door, trying to school his expression into casual, tired, lazy, anything besides what he’s feeling. From what he saw. From what he doesn’t understand.</p><p> </p><p>And maybe it’s just his lucky day or the scenery outside gave him mercy, its pictures on Prompto’s camera too distracting to the blond for him to notice the wet patches under Noctis’s jacket.</p><p> </p><p>Lucky days are bound to end, though.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just as long, as you stand, stand by me.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The rumbles of the car are the only things that fill the silence.</p><p> </p><p>But it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but maybe it seemed that way to everyone except Noctis.</p><p> </p><p>Who was still blinking back revelations and the faintest grasp of visions under his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis pretends that Gladiolus isn’t giving him a concerned look, and instead zeros in on Ignis, on the gelled back spikes of his hair.</p><p> </p><p>“We are about five minutes away from Galdin Quay,” Ignis says, as if he could feel the prince’s gaze on him. “So do not fall asleep in the car.”</p><p> </p><p>Noctis huffs a little, and turns his head to look back out the window, trying to play it cool despite the fact that he felt that the scenery outside was supposed to be night, there was supposed to be a man talking to him, and he was supposed to be walking to people he almost didn’t recognize-</p><p> </p><p>He looks up at the sky, watching the clouds.</p><p> </p><p>Now without the surprise of all of these memories slapping Noctis awake earlier, he’s able to think, even if he’s still keeping his hands from shaking.</p><p> </p><p>Just what <em> were </em> those visions?</p><p> </p><p>But could they be called that when Noctis feels like he’s experienced every single one with his own flesh and blood?</p><p> </p><p>No matter what else, no other dream or nightmare Noctis had has ever felt like this.</p><p> </p><p>Prompto’s humming from the passenger seat, and Noctis manages to expect the phantom songs in his head, thrumming in his mind, except this time, he tries to focus.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “I want to ride my chocobo all day!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Noctis feels himself smirk as he launches himself over a rock and back into a run. He’s sure he hears Gladiolus chuckle. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Can’t get it out of my head!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Well, that didn’t seem out of place.</p><p> </p><p>But Noctis doesn’t let go of his suspicion, he goes deeper.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Stand by me...” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He turns his head, slowly, following the lilting voice, sees the blond outside, leaning against the balcony. His hair was slowly falling down from the hairspray fading. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Oh, stand by me...” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> A movement just out of Noctis’s sight, he turns to see Gladiolus put a palm against the glass on the sliding door. He watches Prompto, and Noctis may have had to blink, because his Shield has several versions of a hard stare, but this one’s none of them. No knit eyebrows, no curved lip. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He seems to relax, looking at Prompto, his stance loosening, and then he notices Noctis’s eyes on him. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> A flush works its way up Noctis’s neck, and he attempts to casually slide his eyes away from Gladiolus to look at Prompto again, the blond now tapping his fingers lightly against the railing.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> But when he looks back again, Gladiolus had a smile playing on his lips. Noctis resists the urge to raise his eyebrow, but it ends up jumping up anyway because Gladiolus had started singing too, and compared to Prompto’s tenor, his voice was a baritone. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall...” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Prompto’s head picks up, his back turns, he looks at Gladiolus, and he’s beaming. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Or the mountain should crumble to the sea...” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The rushing of water turns off, the faucet closed, Ignis’s voice trails out from the kitchen. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no I won’t shed a tear.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Noctis looks back to the decorative sprout planted on the small table, brushes a hand over its leaves, and he sings along, though soft, </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Just as long as you stand, stand by me.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The Leville.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis recognizes it as a memory that shouldn’t be there.</p><p> </p><p>A hotel they haven’t even reached or decided to go to.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis’s eyes open, and this time, he can’t ignore Gladiolus’s stare. So he looks at his Shield as the latter asks, “You good, Noct?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.” </p><p> </p><p>The prince nods jerkily.</p><p> </p><p>He still needs answers.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm on twitter! @Hydro53044934</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Do they know about the memories? The visions?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Our next story, Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis’s heart jumps in his throat, sylleblossoms and blue eyes and a teary smile dotting along his vision, Gladiolus and Prompto were giving him suggestive looks so he beats those images back, crosses his arms, hoping to look defensive and maybe a little embarrassed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-regarding the forthcoming treaty.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lunafreya’s voice comes, just a little distorted from the fact it was over the radio, but it was her voice, and Noctis can feel his hands shifting through water again, but it felt thick, warmer, redder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Words cannot express the joy in my heart on receiving word of this coming peace.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis side eyes Gladiolus, analyzing his smirk.  He has a feeling this has happened before, maybe this exact moment, and maybe he should be feeling flustered, he did once, but there’s also this gaping feeling of longing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nor the pride I take in my betrothal playing a part in this historic moment.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Right. They were getting married.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis blinks at this not-realization.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Why was he thinking like this?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course he was, that’s what he was going on this whole trip for, before the Regalia broke down and they had to get her fixed up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And...they did get married.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Right?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“On this joyous occasion, some have voiced cause for concern: the fear I will be unable to fulfill my duties as Oracle.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was always so headstrong, Noctis thinks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Until the end.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyes sting a little.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What? Why is this happening again?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please rest assured, my marriage will not stand in the way of my calling. You will find me in your towns and villages, as you always have. And I shall continue to bless you all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lady Lunafreya will set forth-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis stops listening then, closes his eyes for a moment, grits his teeth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The visions come back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She’s holding him, he thinks.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There’s water whipping around them, but it wasn’t rain. A roar from overhead.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The Hydraean.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Her maw opens wide, the sound rumbles, Lunafreya grips his hand tight.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And Noct here likes the idea,” Gladiolus teases, tugging Noctis away from his head, and the prince doesn’t know what comes over him, he doesn’t know if anyone was talking to him, but he lets out this exasperated groan, like he’s done it before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto grins at him. “What’s that, ‘I do’?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Noctis stares back at him, frozen, for too long, because Prompto’s smile fades and his eyebrows go up, and Noctis’s tries to keep his head from giving him several visions of that same expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Noct?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You said that before.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto’s brows twist. “Huh? I mean, yeah, sure?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly</span>
  </em>
  <span> that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With the same tone and gesture and everything, but Noctis couldn’t find the words, they’re lodged deep in his throat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto turns towards him, his arm a little outstretched, reaching for Noctis across the divide, but Gladiolus takes him by the shoulder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Noct, are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The prince stares at Gladiolus, wonders if there was supposed to be another scar, and also wonders if Gladiolus would know what’s going on, if anyone would know, maybe they were experiencing the same thing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Do they know about the memories? The visions?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis grabs at Gladiolus’s arm, and stares into his Shield’s eyes. He likens them to burning embers in the night.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you having-“</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But then his throat seizes up, he can’t breathe, he feels a prickling through his fingers, up his arms, to his chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gladiolus’s eyes widen and he’s grabbing at Noctis, Ignis is pulling over, Prompto’s climbing over the divide, but their shouts get more and more muffled, their forms grow more hazy, and then Noctis sees nothing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And when he comes to, he’s blinking at a familiar ceiling in disbelief.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m going on a little trip, gathering herbs and other supplies,” says Ignis, doing up the buttons on his shirt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gladiolus stretches, his joints pop. “I’ll come with.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto lets out this noise of confirmation, he splays out against the back of the couch. His cologne hits Noctis’s nose. Everything feels too blurry, too sharp. Everything he did was just as he did before, but maybe Noctis was just a little too panicky the last time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, see you when you get back!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignis holds his hand up in a short wave, and the door opens. He disappears through it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gladiolus checks his hair in the mirror, then turns towards the other two. “Don’t burn anything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis finds himself looking at the slope of his smile, vaguely tries to remember what he did before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Whatever he did, Prompto laughs and shakes his head. “We won’t!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then Gladiolus is out the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything was the same, with the exception of  Noctis.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto hums to himself for a bit, then looks at Noctis, and Noctis trails his eyes over the other’s face, looking for anything out of place. Freckles, check. Spiky blond hair, check. Bright smile, check.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You slept for a long time, Noct,” Prompto goes. “What’cha dreamin’ about?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nah, just...stuff,” Noctis responds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was lame, and Prompto knew it was lame for sure. But he still giggles and punches Noctis in the shoulder, before he’s jumping up from the couch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope you don’t mind if I take some sweet, sweet shots of our dearest Hammerhead!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright!” Prompto puts his fist up in the air, then ruffles Noctis’s hair. “Be back in just a few!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He refastens his flannel around his waist, and then he’s bouncing out the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now Noctis is alone, just like before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t rush to the bathroom this time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Puts his head in his hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Okay, so that happened.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Me on twitter! @Hydro53044934</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They’ve happened. They’re memories. Of times Noctis can’t figure out.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>This time, when they set out, Noctis makes note of everything. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They get gas. Noctis fills the tank. Gladiolus checks the newspaper. Noctis expects the appreciate whistle when he pauses on a scantily clad girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignis thinks he’s discreet as he walks into the store, but Noctis knows him better. Gil will definitely be missing because of an Ebony.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto lies on the hood of the car, he has his hand under his head, he grins up at the lenses of his camera. Ignis had long ago stopped telling him to get off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis smiles at it like he did before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Except deep down, this time, he feels a little more appreciative.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Which should be kinda weird, but then it seems that everything has gotten really weird.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they continue on their journey, Noctis tries to mimic what he did. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He leans back, focuses on the wind in his hair. He looks towards the radio. He watches Prompto tap his fingers on his lap. He watched Gladiolus sneeze, like he usually does. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bless you,” Ignis says.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They fall into their calm silence. Noctis keeps moving his eyes to each of them. Ignis rolls his sleeves up. Prompto smiles at the sky. Gladiolus takes out his book.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The silence drags on for as long as Noctis recounts the visions in his head that must have occured, and when they hit a familiar stretch, he zeros in on Ignis, who says the words as he expected, “We are about five minutes away from Galdin Quay, so do not fall asleep in the car.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis huffs and thinks that he definitely won’t, not with this shit going on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks down at his hands, clenches them for a second. They’re shaking less, he doesn’t need to hide them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The visions are still powerful, but he’s learning, albeit slowly, to rein them in. Ignoring them almost entirely. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gladiolus isn’t looking at him worried this time, an absolute win.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto hums, and Noctis can hear the song this time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the verse, Noctis laughs a little. “Is that ‘Calling for Rain’?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto whips his head around, and his eyes brighten. Noctis has to say that sometimes it’s like Prompto has his own personal sun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Doesn’t everyone?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was the biggest hit last week,” Gladiolus supplies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It played about every hour and nine minutes,” Ignis adds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the same time Gladiolus mutters, “Well, that was specific,” Prompto’s jaw drops in a perfect ‘O’.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was really out of it, damn!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thinking too hard about our roadtrip?” Noctis jabs playfully.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He expects the blond to get flustered, maybe scratch at his head, look away, and he does exactly that, but he then shoots a bashful smile back at the prince.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, ‘cause it’s on a roadtrip with all of you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Noctis stares at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I really am enjoying this roadtrip with all of you guys.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Didn’t think going on a roadtrip with all of you would lead to me breaking the car down...”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Who thought going a roadtrip with all of you would lead to us having to save everyone?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gladiolus sucks in a breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gladiolus turns in his campfire seat to stare over at Prompto, Cup Noodles forgotten.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gladiolus puts a hand over Prompto’s head. “Maybe we shouldn’t let you drive...”, which pulls a “Hey!” from the blond.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Gladiolus smiles, sadly, clasping his hands together. “Yeah, who woulda thought.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignis turns his head towards Prompto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ignis pauses in his dishwashing, he turns to Prompto. “Were you not before?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ignis chuckles. “It is quite alright. No one could have foreseen it.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ignis says nothing. He just grips Prompto’s hand tighter.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis snaps out of the visions, realizing he’s looking at Ignis through the rearview mirror for long enough his retainer was gazing back at him with a question in his eyes, and Prompto is clearing his throat when no one seems to really respond to his cheesy line about their roadtrip. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then the radio chooses that moment to crackle to life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For our next story: Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae has issued an official statement regarding the forthcoming treaty.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis leans back, a little in shock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto and Gladiolus don’t give him smirking glances.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Words cannot express the joy in my heart on receiving word of this coming peace.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lunafreya’s words play just like they did before, but Noctis isn’t quite focused on her this time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s still mulling over what happened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Prompto has said that before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Several cases of that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By a campfire. Noctis scrounges for a second. None of that happened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But they happened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And this is the first time Prompto has said it here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Was that supposed to happen?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nor the pride I take in my betrothal playing a part in this historic moment.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One roadtrip. Roadtrips...they went on several.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Have they done this before?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>How many times?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Did they have a different conversation?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Did they have no conversation, like when Noctis was dreaming about them singing in a Leville hotel they’ve never been to but perhaps they had?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The more and more Noctis thought about it, the more and more it seemed possible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“On this joyous occasion, some have voiced cause for concern: the fear I will be unable to fulfill my duties as Oracle.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lunafreya has said that before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>More times than Noctis could count.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that means, every other vision he had...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’ve happened. They’re memories. Of times Noctis can’t figure out. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He grips at his stomach, remembering that phantom pain of something driving through.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Will he figure them out?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he says, over Lunafreya’s words, “I’m glad I’m on a roadtrip with all of you too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They look at him. They probably don’t know, but Noctis knows he has never said that before, in whatever alien memories he has.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Eat me on twitter, @Hydro53044934</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Everything always started and ended with him.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Noctis looks up at the palm trees besides the path as Ignis drives into the parking lot.</p><p> </p><p>They flutter in the breeze, large fronds of green spreading out all over each other.</p><p> </p><p>A thought grows itself in Noctis’s mind. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>They still have their leaves.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He frowns at it.</p><p> </p><p>Ignis pulls in under the shade, and everyone opens their doors at roughly the same time. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s a nice breeze,” Gladiolus comments as they walk out into the sun, Ignis taking the lead and everyone a few steps behind.</p><p> </p><p>Shortly after, Noctis feels the air too, and he turns to see Gladiolus incline his face towards it, eyes slipping closed for a second.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, it is.”</p><p> </p><p>Prompto lets out a low whistle and his camera is out, pointed towards the trees just a little to their left. “This place is pretty!”</p><p> </p><p>“That would be an understatement,” Ignis says, and Noctis can see his smile as he turns to put two fingers up in a peace sign at Prompto’s lenses.</p><p> </p><p>He was right.</p><p> </p><p>Galdin Quay was lovely.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis could see the broad expanse of blue the resort was overlooking, the rippling waves and the light glancing off. Seagulls flew overhead, their cries in time with the sounds of water hitting the beach.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis has the sudden urge to run there and take his rod from the Armiger. </p><p> </p><p>But, that can wait, his mind says.</p><p> </p><p>“Is our boat gonna be huge?” </p><p> </p><p>“I would hope not.”</p><p> </p><p>Prompto bounces on his heels again.</p><p> </p><p>“You get seasick easily, Gladio?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh.”</p><p> </p><p>Prompto cocks his head at the Shield. “I’m gonna take that as a yes!”</p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus scoffs and Prompto laughs, dancing away as Ignis tries to bop him on the head, running ahead to the stairs of the dock.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis joins him and they go racing along the pathway, weaving around people and Noctis makes note of every smile, of every child holding their parent’s hand, every popsicle. He wonders how many times he’s been here, running or walking, maybe he stopped in the middle of the walkway and decided to fish, and then Gladiolus or Ignis or Prompto had to apologize for him getting into others’ way, or maybe all three of them did.</p><p> </p><p>And he wonders, what was the visions’ purpose?</p><p> </p><p>Prompto stops for him just a little ways before the stairs leading up to the restaurant, throwing an arm around the prince’s shoulders when he gets close, and he aims the camera at them both.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis smiles automatically, and he quickly reaches to put bunny ears behind Prompto’s head, which the blond laughs and shoves at him for, but doesn’t retake the picture.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis can see Ignis brighten up as he and Gladiolus catch up. “I smell something savory.”</p><p> </p><p>It only takes the prince a turn-around to understand what Ignis meant. There was definitely an air of spice, mouthwatering and heady.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure you just don’t want to say ‘that’s it’?”</p><p> </p><p>“‘I’ve come up with a new recipe’,” Gladiolus says.</p><p> </p><p>Ignis rolls his eyes at Prompto laughing and slapping his knee. “Perhaps we can have a nibble later.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Noctis grins, and they walk up the stairs into the pavilion.</p><p> </p><p>...</p><p> </p><p>Maybe he should have stuck to his earlier trail of thought about the visions.</p><p> </p><p>He would’ve probably gotten close.</p><p> </p><p>Everything always started and ended with him.</p><p> </p><p>With how many memories Noctis has, he should’ve have seen him coming.</p><p> </p><p>It’s as if the world turns gray for an instant.</p><p> </p><p>A multitude of clouds wiping out Ignis, Gladiolus and Prompto.</p><p> </p><p>The music from the walkway speakers becomes distorted, pitched deep.</p><p> </p><p>Like time stops.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis knows him before he even sees him.</p><p> </p><p>He would know him anywhere.</p><p> </p><p>He’d never forget the bones breaking, the blood pouring, the screaming, the cold, the swords clanging.</p><p> </p><p>The snow, the rain.</p><p> </p><p>The fire.</p><p> </p><p>He’ll never forget the black that comes from the man’s eyes in tendrils, streaking down his cheeks, it gets into his smile when he opens his mouth, it stains his gums.</p><p> </p><p>He’ll never forget the crippling feeling of his stomach tearing open in his grief.</p><p> </p><p>The man smiles ever so.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis knew he wasn’t actually smiling.</p><p> </p><p>He hasn’t smiled in the longest time, maybe since the beginning of time.</p><p> </p><p>Just a walking man with his soul empty, on and on and on into the night, into the storm, those tendrils like tar wrapping around every form, every scream, silencing.</p><p> </p><p>And Noctis hates him, hates him in every memory he’s found.</p><p> </p><p>Ardyn.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis may have remembered now, but he’ll never forget again.</p><p> </p><p>Here they are at the start.</p><p> </p><p>And Noctis thinks that out of everything...</p><p> </p><p>Ardyn is the constant.</p><p> </p><p>The strange thoughts don’t faze him anymore, but he’s frozen, in place, staring at a face he’s already memorized, already knows who it belongs to, can practically recite the words that crawl out of the man’s mouth in a lazy drawl.</p><p> </p><p>A sharp, cold feeling sits itself inside his ribs.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”</p><p> </p><p>Noctis knows his line. </p><p> </p><p>Are we?</p><p> </p><p>The lump in his throat is too big.</p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus makes a confused hum, and he’s already walking forward in front of Noctis, moving just a little in front.</p><p> </p><p>“What luck are you talking about?”</p><p> </p><p>His voice is firm, his stance is strong, and Noctis tries to breathe a little when Ardyn’s eyes flick towards the Shield.</p><p> </p><p>And somehow, he still says what he did before.</p><p> </p><p>“The boats bring you here?”</p><p> </p><p>Ignis also steps forward. “Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>His voice doesn’t waver.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis admires that. His voice would definitely not even come out.</p><p> </p><p>Ardyn turns his head towards the back of the pavilion, towards the docks reaching far out into the water. “Well, they’ll not take you forth.”</p><p> </p><p>He looks back, his eyes find Noctis, and the prince clenches his fists. It feels like there’s something crawling up his spine, he doesn’t look away, not even as the cold drives further in.</p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus shifts, his eyes flicker in Noctis’s direction before they settle upon Ardyn again. “And who are you?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m an impatient traveler, ready to turn ship.”</p><p> </p><p>Ardyn walks forward, and Gladiolus puts a hand back to push on Noctis, forcing him to retreat a little.</p><p> </p><p>The Shield circles around Noctis as Ardyn passes, and Noctis sees the way the man’s eyebrows raise, surprised by the way they were reacting.</p><p> </p><p>And yet, he doesn’t diverge from the script, the script that Noctis knows just through the visions in his head.</p><p> </p><p>“The ceasefire’s getting us nowhere.”</p><p> </p><p>Noctis sees him slide the coin between his fingers. His eyes lock on Noctis’s one more time and flicks the coin towards him.</p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus was supposed to catch it.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis was supposed to let him catch it.</p><p> </p><p>And even though Gladiolus didn’t have a clue what was going on, he knew he should catch it.</p><p> </p><p>The prince reaches out and catches it.</p><p> </p><p>Stares at it in his palm.</p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus stops in place.</p><p> </p><p>Ignis advances.</p><p> </p><p>Prompto, ever the brave one, goes, “Ha, nice one!”</p><p> </p><p>Noctis isn’t quite sure what to do.</p><p> </p><p>He really diverged from every memory here.</p><p> </p><p>So he scrounges something up. What did Gladiolus say?</p><p> </p><p>“A souvenir?” he bites out.</p><p> </p><p>Ardyn tilts his head towards him. Noctis wonders for a second if the man’s powers permitted him to hear how hard his heart was pounding, how heavy he was breathing, if he could see the sweat gathering on Noctis’s palms. “Consider it your allowance.”</p><p> </p><p>“Who’s allowing us?” </p><p> </p><p>Gods, please, just go. Walk away, get out.</p><p> </p><p>It hurt to breathe. Noctis didn’t want to look at him anymore. The visions he kept locked down were rising up, about to break the surface.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The gasp she lets out, the blood splattering on the wet stone- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> His laugh echoes through the train- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Ignis’s shout when he kicks him in the ribs- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Gladiolus telling Noctis to run- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Prompto screaming- </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Noctis damn near flinches when Ardyn spreads his arms. </p><p> </p><p>“A man of no consequence.”</p><p> </p><p>And he leaves.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis tries his best to keep his eyes on him to make sure he actually does, but that’s quickly forgotten because Ignis is going to him, a hand on his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Noct? Are you alright?”</p><p> </p><p>He can’t speak yet.</p><p> </p><p>Drags his eyes up to his retainer’s face.</p><p> </p><p>Scars, right?</p><p> </p><p>There’s none there.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis tries to breathe.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, is everything okay?” Prompto’s at his side, his eyes wide, his hands go around Noctis’s arm. “Noct?”</p><p> </p><p>Noctis looks into sky blue. He’s not screaming, he’s okay.</p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus’s eyes trail Ardyn’s back for just a moment longer before he’s reaching for Noctis’s face, and that’s when the prince realizes he was crying. Maybe from relief. Maybe from the visions. Or both. “What did he do to you?”</p><p> </p><p>He did, he did so much.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis tries to say this, but his voice still lodges in his throat. It’s stuck there, he can’t get it out.</p><p> </p><p>The car ride from before flashes in his mind. The feeling of his arms turning to stone, he couldn’t breathe-</p><p> </p><p>Repeating again in the caravan.</p><p> </p><p>He can’t tell them.</p><p> </p><p>He actually can’t, it’ll just repeat again-</p><p> </p><p>He can’t tell them, he can’t-</p><p> </p><p>Why can’t he tell them?</p><p> </p><p>“He’s, he’s bad news,” Noctis manages to say. “We should stay away from him.”</p><p> </p><p>Prompto’s eyes grow wider, Ignis and Gladiolus exchange glances. They all look at him again. Ignis seems the most inclined to say something about the way Noctis was shaking right down into his shoes.</p><p> </p><p>“Just a bad day,” Noctis tries again, and they look unconvinced.</p><p> </p><p>But he can’t tell them.</p><p> </p><p>Not about the memories, not about the visions or Ardyn. Or the pain he remembers.</p><p> </p><p>Why?</p><p> </p><p>He tries his best to shake it off, and he walks into the pavilion. He can feel his friends looking at each other again, hesitantly, before they follow.</p><p> </p><p>What the fuck does he do?</p><p> </p><p>He has these visions, he has memories he doesn’t know how he’s gotten, he wants to know how he got them, Ardyn has not said a single thing different than before, the very existence of him sets Noctis’s mind on fire and tearing at the edges, his heart feels heavy and his hands shake and his eyes swim.</p><p> </p><p>Why did this start?</p><p> </p><p>Is there something someone or something is trying to tell him?</p><p> </p><p>Or is he just going fucking crazy and none of this is real?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>tweet, tweet! @Hydro53044934</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Is this ever going to end?</p><p> </p><p>He’d like it to.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>As expected, the ferries were out of service.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis obviously knows this, but he still waits as Ignis checks the sign with a confused hum.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It appears that what the man said is correct,” he announces, and Noctis has to remind himself that he wasn’t supposed to know Ardyn’s name.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Aw, crap,” Gladiolus scratches at his head. “What should we do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis lets out a sigh, slides a hand down his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Is this ever going to end?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’d like it to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s getting tired of the visions, the memories. As well as worn out from feeling himself pass out and doing everything a second time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he never wants to see Ardyn again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If this was a dream, he would really like to stop dreaming now, it’s been fun. This is the weirdest dream he’s had, and he’d had a lot of weird dreams. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Carbuncle, you can stop fucking with me now, I’m done playing along.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He probably looks like a dumbass for talking to an imaginary dream animal he created when he was eight, but hey, he’s fed up and he ran out of options.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And not only after feeling confused, scared and angry, the second he saw the ferries were out of service, he also felt like he was missing something.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Missing something undeniably important.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it shouldn’t be possible with all these memories constantly sifting over in Noctis’s mind, telling him that cloud over there was in a different shape than last time or he decided he’d fish here one time, but somehow he feels it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It gets worse as Dino Ghiranze starts talking at him, telling him he’s the smartest or whatever he says before, and it irks him that he remembers exactly what Dino wants, amethyst stone, right before the reporter says it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Because he doesn’t think he has the time to figure out what it was right before it happened, it feels like the thing he’s missing is something he’ll regret.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But it stays stubbornly out of reach, and he doesn’t know where to look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He follows Gladiolus’s hand on his back as they return to the center of the pavilion, still lost in his own thoughts, watches his own feet move underneath him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The prince slides into the seat automatically when he bumps into it, feels his elbow against some polished stone, realizes he’s at the restaurant, or more importantly the restaurant bar.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The chef smiles at him, he remembers her name. Coctura. “How can I serve you today?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He just kind of looks at the menu dumbly, feeling a little worse for wear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shifts awkwardly, eyes still on him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He opens his mouth to speak, lamely staring at a picture of buttered toast, when Ignis comes up and saves him, pressing his arms to the counter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His retainer speaks to Coctura swiftly, hands tracing along the menu, occasionally pausing to rest on a particular dish. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignis’s arm bumps into Noctis’s for a second, and the prince just kind of eyes it for a moment, noting the warmth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then he thinks of holding Ignis’s hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thinks of that morning, or the morning before he actually started it over again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His panic in the bathroom, where he remembered feeling his hands on Ignis’s face-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Whoa, okay there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis blinks at himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s him remembering a memory. Or remembering a memory of a memory? Or was he dreaming? Why is he even thinking about this, he’s been trying to shove it back, it’s a reason he thinks Carbuncle’s been messing with him, he can’t possibly have been with-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Any of them, Ignis, Prompto, Gladiolus-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He closes his eyes for a moment, forces the visions back again, sighs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s been too long of a day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Visions, memories, cold feelings, please leave now. It’s been too much, he’s too wound up, he would like to stop feeling confused, thanks. Let him wake up, and let him just be on his merry way to his wedding that he definitely will have and definitely not with whatever weird things are in his head right now. Is this pre-marriage anxiety? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He opens them again, Coctura’s moving away, and Ignis is looking at him, the concern on his face unmistakeable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis prepares himself for a lie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Risotto for you,” his retainer says, and his head tilts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis thinks for a moment that his eyes were green, like really green.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have been acting strange.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Am I?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yes. Grade A response. Ignis just raises his eyebrows in the most polite way of really?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes. You’ve been brooding.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ha, Noctis thinks, he always knows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Having taken care of Noctis since the retainer was ten, of course Ignis would.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just stupid stuff.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignis regards him for a moment, then turns his head slowly behind him, to where Gladiolus and Prompto were having their own chat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis follows his gaze, watches Prompto spin around in his chair and laugh at something Gladiolus says. The Shield grins back and okay Noctis will now look away because his head is definitely not listening to him and is bringing up non-helpful picture concerning the two over there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignis checks them, then turns back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it something they cannot know?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Is this something they cannot know?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ignis’s breath is hot against his cheek, his hands brush Noctis’s hair away from his face, putting some distance between them even though he’s the one against the door in their hotel room.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Noctis sucks in a breath, he’s still zeroing in on Ignis’s lips, already all wet from kissing and he would like to get back to it, thanks.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He rams down on that feeling of even thinking about the other two finding out, because there’s no way they could like him back and he only just found out Ignis did through sheer accident and he’s not going to take any more risks and how can he break it to Luna?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah, please don’t tell them,” and he’s chasing Ignis’s mouth again.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis blinks at Ignis’s mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then he feels a flush creep up his neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, “ he stutters out, and he looks away from Ignis, focuses on the dock in the distance, trying to also get rid of that image in his head. Gods, what the hell? “Because it’s nothing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His retainer keeps training his gaze on him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The prince aims to casually run his hand through his hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ignis eventually relinquishes his non-physical hold, hand coming to push up his glasses.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis inwardly sighs with relief.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you up for procuring the stone Dino asked for? We can also have an early evening, we’ll set up camp near here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sometimes, Ignis is just a blessing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis thinks of lying down and that thought alone is very, very nice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It would also mean that if he was dreaming, he’d wake up when he went to sleep, or he’d like to think right now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But if it wasn’t...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noctis may have had a long day, filled with feelings he didn’t understand, memories he didn’t know. He doesn’t know how he knows when someone will say something or what will happen, or how he knows people by their names or know what he’s said before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he can’t rule out that it’s not real just like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can’t explain it, it’s just...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A feeling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another weird thought, he can’t ignore what’s happening.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it still feels like he’s forgetting something, and he wants to figure out what that was too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go gem hunting.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Worship FFXV on twitter with me, @Hydro53044934</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Insomnia...falls?”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, Noct, put on a smile!”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Hey, put on a smile!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Noctis turns to see the lens pointed at him. He tilts his head at Prompto, who flashes him a silly grin, and that gets him to laugh. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> There’s a clicking of a shutter, the blond beams at the result, and his hand falls onto Noctis’s. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The prince stares at their shared point of contact. A beat passes. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Noctis can see the blush shoot its way up Prompto’s neck as he wrenches his hand back. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> But Noctis is faster, not letting Prompto slip away, tightening his grasp, which gets the blond to blush even deeper, but he doesn’t pull away again. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Noctis can only pray his smile doesn’t look like a grimace. He thinks he passes when Prompto drops the camera onto his lap again with a hum.</p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus sneezes.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Gladiolus sneezes and it echoes in the hall, loud and boisterous. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Bless you,” Noctis says, and dances away again, letting Gladiolus wipe at his nose with a bare arm and say his thanks. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> The prince stares down his Shield’s body, where the streaked tattoos become the shape of an eagle, its face fierce on the left of Gladiolus’s naked chest, and his mouth goes dry a little. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> He meets Gladiolus’s eyes as the other man gets back into ready position, and he sees the fire there as always, a controlled force, but it flickers slightly, dimming when he recognizes the look on Noctis’s face. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> And he subtly shakes his head. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Don’t look like that, he’s telling Noctis. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> We can’t be together. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> And they clang their swords together again. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Bless you,” Noctis nearly whispers.</p><p> </p><p>Ignis hands Gladiolus a tissue, never taking his eyes off the road.</p><p> </p><p>The Shield says his thanks to both.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis resists the urge to groan.</p><p> </p><p>He’s stopped trying to hold back the visions. Just for now at least. It was too exhausting to keep doing so. Plus, maybe what he was forgetting was in them, so he was just trying to keep an open mind, let them come when it seemed like no one was paying him any attention.</p><p> </p><p>Of course, that leaves him subject to...</p><p> </p><p>Memories or visions like those.</p><p> </p><p>They ranged from really friendly advances to feelings like butterflies and then the occasional restraint, as demonstrated by all the ones Noctis just had last, but then there was more.</p><p> </p><p>He’d randomly remember photographs Prompto hasn’t took.</p><p> </p><p>He’d remember Ignis, eyes closed, face pressed against the prince’s palm.</p><p> </p><p>He’d remember how Gladiolus had looked at him, his jaw tightening but saying nothing.</p><p> </p><p>It was unnerving, to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>And what he was missing felt out of reach.</p><p> </p><p>But he keeps trying.</p><p> </p><p>...</p><p> </p><p>The sun was setting as they make their way back to Galdin Quay, the stone Dino requested nestled between Noctis’s legs. It’s been polished too, wiped clean of dirt by a rag Ignis produced.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis runs a hand over it.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s super pretty,” Prompto comments, his head craned over the divide. “It must be worth a lot.”</p><p> </p><p>The prince nods once, turning over the gem, admiring the purple hue. He looks up again to say something, but notices how his blond friend’s eyes slide over to Ignis.</p><p> </p><p>Noctis follows along, eyes glancing up to the mirror. His retainer’s eyes on the road, as always, but almost like they were stone, besides when they blinked. He blatantly wasn’t looking at Prompto. Or at anyone.</p><p> </p><p>The prince watches him for a moment, then looks at Prompto. Prompto doesn’t notice Noctis until a moment later, and then when he does, his eyes widen, he flushes, and then he turns back to the front as casually as possible.</p><p> </p><p>Which wasn’t all that casual.</p><p> </p><p>Oh.</p><p> </p><p>So Prompto likes Ignis?</p><p> </p><p>That way?</p><p> </p><p>Something digs into the prince’s palm and he looks down, realizing he’s clenching the stone tight enough its sharp point is about to break his skin.</p><p> </p><p>He has to force himself to loosen up, realizes he has a bitter taste in his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>He takes his hands away from it.</p><p> </p><p>Hopes that this day ends soon.</p><p> </p><p>...</p><p> </p><p>He thanks the gods when it does.</p><p> </p><p>“I am a man of integrity!”</p><p> </p><p>Why can’t Dino talk at a more reasonable frequency? Noctis’s head hurts.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh-huh,” he says. Very nicely. Solid. Not dismissive at all. Prompto elbows him.</p><p> </p><p>“How ‘bout you find a place to spent the night,” Dino drawls, and as Noctis and the others walk up the stairs he thrusts up a wave in goodbye and Noctis tries his best not to cheer.</p><p> </p><p>...</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The prince turns the coin over in his palm, stares at the face of the woman there, her eyes are solemn.</p><p> </p><p>He thinks of Lunafreya.</p><p> </p><p>The thing he’s forgetting.</p><p> </p><p>Is he just too tired to find out what it was?</p><p> </p><p>He looks over at the fountain, can hear the water as it trickles down into a small pool at the bottom, it was crystal clear, so he could see every ripple, how they come from the epicenter, the strand of water trembling in its form.</p><p> </p><p>He stares at it, for as long as Gladiolus talks to the receptionist, and it feels like something is crawling up his spine, heavy and light, cold and warm, sharp and dull.</p><p> </p><p>His Shield asks him for the coin and Noctis watches it being taken from his palm, watches be handed to the worker who stares at it with an appreciative expression.</p><p> </p><p>There’s this rushing in his ears, like water, like wind, and it doesn’t stop as Noctis is tapped on the back by Prompto, they go down the hallway, Noctis could smell the water of some nearby pool, but...</p><p> </p><p>It’s like several of them at once. Not several, hundreds, thousands, hitting Noctis so hard it actually stings, and when Prompto comments on it, it’s like he hears thousands of him.</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s-“</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s-“</p><p> </p><p>“That’s a pool-“</p><p> </p><p>“A pool?”</p><p> </p><p>“Aw, sweet-“</p><p> </p><p>“Race ya-“</p><p> </p><p>“Noct, my man-“</p><p> </p><p>He turns his head in a daze, looks at Gladiolus talking to Ignis.</p><p> </p><p>“We got enough-“</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe-“</p><p> </p><p>“Stocking up-“</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Prompto-“</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t run-“</p><p> </p><p>“Who was that-“</p><p> </p><p>“What about-“</p><p> </p><p>Ignis adjusts his glasses.</p><p> </p><p>“Preparations-“</p><p> </p><p>“Perhaps we will come back-“</p><p> </p><p>“Perhaps we will come back-“</p><p> </p><p>“Noctis, what-“</p><p> </p><p>“Is there anything-“</p><p> </p><p>“We will be there-“</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t run in the halls-“</p><p> </p><p>Gladiolus slips their keycard into the scanner, and he opens the door.</p><p> </p><p>And Noctis stares at the room.</p><p> </p><p>At the glass windows showing the outside.</p><p> </p><p>At the beds, covered in blue.</p><p> </p><p>At the plants in the corners.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“What’s that look for?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ignis’s eyes were brimming with worry, he still stares, is too late to move away and Prompto has the moment to look at the paper he was carrying.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Insomnia...falls?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Noctis’s feet buckle under him.</p><p> </p><p>And the last thing he remembers is Prompto catching him, the other two rushing over, and it feels like something’s slammed into his skull.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Isn't that...his father's sword?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>NEW CHAPTER HNG HN</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Noctis, are you listening?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, Dad,” he says, staring out the window of the study.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“What was I talking about?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Uh, phoenix down?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>His father scoffs at him. “I knew you were not paying attention.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Noctis shrugs. “It looks so nice out there.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>A hand on his head, ruffling his hair. “I know. Perhaps after lunch we can take a stroll in the gardens. But first: Armiger.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The prince presses his cheek against the table, head touching his notebook papers just a little bit.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Okay,” he mumbles.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>There’s a knock at the door. “Your Highness, tea is ready.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The King sits upright in his chair, tilts his face towards the door. “Yes! Come in.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ignis was wearing his rectangular-like glasses. He was in his striped button down, his hair doesn’t stick up as much because there’s not much of it.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Your Highness?” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Noctis looks down at the saucer held out for him, a delicate cup filled with a warm drink.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He takes it from Ignis a bit too quickly, too excitedly. Some of the liquid sloshes out and lands on his sleeve. It’s hot. He yelps a little.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Your Highness!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>His retainer takes it from him and sets it on the table, and he’s taking out a handkerchief to wipe at Noctis’s sleeve, and Noctis can see, as he looks over Ignis’s head-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>A sword.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It leans against the wall, just in the corner, peeking out from behind the bookshelf.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>There’s a glint, and Noctis sees the wing on one side.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It shines in the light. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Isn’t that...his father’s sword?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>But Noctis doesn’t see it out often, and definitely not here either.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“You should be more careful,” Ignis chides, and Noctis could feel the reproach from his retainer crawl across his skin. “You could burn yourself.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Y...Yeah, sorry,” Noctis dips his head down, embarrassed.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>His father chuckles as Ignis steps away again. “Thank you,” he says to the royal retainer, then trains his eyes on the prince again. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He manages to listen this time, as his father goes over the royal arms under his control, of the guns and swords and pole-arms. Listens as he explains battle strategies. Everything boring - he listens, laughs as the king reenacts everything with his hands.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Noctis is still aware of that sword over there in the corner, however, how it seemed to glow with a strange light.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The garden is probably one of Noctis’s favorite places.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Light shines through the trees, landing in patches among the hedges, rippling along the sidewalk.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The flowers in full bloom, in all sorts of bright colors, pinks and yellows, kind of reminding Noctis of a sunset, they sway in the breeze.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Birds chirp overhead, the prince could hear them flit from branch to branch. They soar across the trees.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“It feels good to be out!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“I haven’t realized you enjoyed the gardens this much.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, I like the flowers, the air, the smell, but you know what I like most, Dad?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“The lake.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“The lake!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And Noctis bounds ahead, eager to see it, ignoring Ignis’s cries to wait and grinning when he hears his father laugh and run to catch up.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Man, that fish took so long to bite!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“You seemed ever so patient though, son.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, because I actually like fishing!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He bounces on the bed, tries his best to touch the ceiling, bounce, bounce. “Whee!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ignis eyes him warily and Noctis rolls his eyes. He won’t be stupid like those monkeys, promise! No doctor for him!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Sweet Astrals above, how could you still have so much energy?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He sticks his tongue out at his father, attempts to create a wrinkled fish on the blanket, jumps around in a lopsided eight.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He only stops when his father grabs at him, his face spreading out into a grin, Noctis startles and that lets his father aim for under his armpits, tickling and pulling laughs out of the prince’s lungs.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And that’s when Noctis kicks him in the face.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The king recoils and Noctis is immediately sitting up, apologizing, reaching over. Ignis races to the king’s side. “Your Highness, are you alright?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Sorry, Dad! I’m sorry!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>But the king was laughing, and his hand moves until it’s covering only his eye. “No harm done. You are remarkably strong, son.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“I’m so sorry, Dad!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Let me see your eye, Your Highness,” Ignis interjects, but the king waves him off. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“I will be alright,” he shakes his head in amusement at Noctis. “I will head to the medical wing.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He kisses the prince on the head swiftly.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Sweet dreams, young Noctis,” he says, and Noctis can’t help but notice the tenderness in his eyes. His father kisses him once more on the head, pats Ignis on the shoulder twice, and departs.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The second the door closes, Noctis launches himself at Ignis, grabs his retainer by the shoulders hurriedly. “Iggy, Iggy, I didn’t kill him right? Is Dad going to be okay?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Yes, yes, he will be alright.” Ignis pats his shoulder. “Your father is strong-“</em>
</p><p> </p><p><em>“But he </em>just<em> said I was strong!”</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“But you aren’t stronger than him. At least not yet.” Ignis pats the prince’s shoulder again. “At least you didn’t kick him further down-“</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>He stops abruptly. Noctis squints at him, noting how he had suddenly flushed. “Further down? Further down what?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>His retainer clears his throat, adjusts his glasses. “Let’s get you to bed, Your Highness.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Iggy, answer the question!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It’s the middle of the night, but Noctis can’t sleep. He sits up, and sees the blue glow in the corner. His father’s sword leans against the wall just outside the door. The prince doesn’t know how it got there, but he feels like he’ll see it again.</em>
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